In many other cultures, past and present, it has been customary for parents, particularly, but not exclusively, mothers, to carry their infant children against the parents' sides, chests or backs, using a sling-like arrangement of fabric, woven fiber or the like. The practice is particularly well-known from North, Central and South American, Indian and sub-Saharan African traditional cultures, although at times it has been known practically around the world.
Over the last few years, interest in the traditional practice of sling-carrying infants has become considerably heightened in the United States, as it has become increasingly recognized that the practice has advantages for both the infant and the adult. With a well-designed sling, the adult is largely free to go about her or his business while carrying the child, and the child is in possession of an enhanced state of well-being, from being closely associated with another's heartbeat and from not being overwhelmed by a feeling of separation and of being alone in the world.
Although some traditional baby carrier slings are designed for supporting the infant on the adult's hip, most are designed for supporting the infant in a confronting relation either to the adult's back or to the adult's chest. There are some times when it is obvious from the way that the infant is twisting her or his neck about that they would rather be looking out at what is going on around them than to be faced with the relative sameness of their tender's back or chest. However, no available sling-type carriers known to the present inventor easily accommodate an infant in a choice of either facing in or facing out position. Also, with known sling-type infant carriers, growth of the baby may soon strain the capacity of the device, so that the child must suffer being squeezed by a carrier which she or he has outgrown, or a new larger-size carrier must be purchased, borrowed or otherwise acquired.